My New Outlook on Grad School

I've been reviewing my MFA application list. After composing a draft of my Statement of Purpose and having it blasted apart by my dear comrade, I think I've been going about the whole process wrong. I had chosen some top schools, some known for their good funding, and bemoaned a general availability of knowledge about the programs themselves. But I realized I wasn't being true to myself, to my writing, or to my goals. I had put these schools on the list for all the wrong reasons. What do I care if University of Wisconsin is in the top 5 if it doesn't offer the community engagement I'm specifically looking for? (as a note, I am still applying to UW but others have been scrapped.)

My list of goals and things I am looking to get out of my MFA experience:

• Good teaching opportunities with a decent ratio and stipend
• A lot of opportunities for community engagement through community service projects, clubs, organizations, annual conferences and festivals, etc.
• Available elective courses on the business of publishing and publishing-related subjects
• No GRE requirements 
• Cross-genre opportunities or courses on mainstream fiction genres
• A literary magazine and/or publishing press

That's not too much to ask, is it?? :-) Apparently not! Here's my new shiny list -- though I'm still looking to cut it down by a few schools.

1. University of Wisconsin

2. Arizona State University

3. Syracuse University

4. Western Michigan University

5. University of New Mexico (this is one of my top choices at the moment)

6. Rosemont College

7. Hollins University

8. Mills College

9. Boise State University

10. University of Idaho

11. Columbia College Chicago

So it's a long list but I'll be doing more research on the specific schools, maybe try and talk to some of the students or faculty. Most of these schools offer good financial aid options, if not fully funded, so I'm still staying true to my desire to not accrue any more debt than necessary.

Having a clearer idea of what my goals are and selecting schools that are on the same page with them will hopefully help me get more specific, more concrete, and write more compelling admissions essays. We'll see how it goes!

Online Writing Group

As I've been traveling, I've enjoyed the relative luxury and freedom of being able to do most of my writing work through online correspondence and a writing forum. However, I acknowledge the limitations of conducting critiques and posting my own work for review in an open forum and I am sometimes frustrated by the lack of response or the superficial interest in review and critique. I guess I'm looking for a more hardcore experience, a more dedicated atmosphere that can really cultivate change and growth. That is part of the reason I am applying for a MFA programs, to maximize workshop exposure. But I feel that much of this could be obtained through an online writing or critique group.

So I will commence this effort as an experiment, to determine whether there are other like-minded writers out there interested in this kind of group. As with The Oddville Press, the correspondence and procedures were conducted entirely online and it worked fairly well for a while. I have opened a profile on GroupBox.com and will look to recruit others interested in this kind of participation.